Friday, October 28, 2011

One of my favorite places to get discounted craft supplies is my local Tuesday Morning store. For the size that the store is they have a fair amount of paper and other craft supplies. I’ve bought many paper packs for there for pennies on the dollar compared to my local craft store.

Some of the items are at a great price and some are not so great. I’ve been lusting over this pack of embellishments the last few times I’ve been in the store. I just couldn’t bring myself to pay $19.99 for this pack until yesterday. I figured if I kept looking at it and putting it down at the last minute that I should just get it. It was hard paying that much for it since there wasn’t matching paper but I was pretty sure that the papers I recently won would match pretty well.

The pack came with two boxes of chipboard letters and numbers, a pack of buttons, a pack of embellished snowflakes, paper flowers,

fun vintage vibe trims,

tons of stickers, and a stamp set.

It really was a lot of items for the price.

Luckily it did match with the papers I won a couple weeks ago so I have new stamps and embellishment for some Christmas cards.

With one sheet of the patterned paper, two sheets of yellow cardstock and three sheets of burgundy paper I sat down and made 10 cards with this same basic layout.

Some have flowers, some snowflakes, some have ribbon and some I stamped a sentiment instead of the chipboard letters.

I love the cards and listed them in my Etsy store to see if they sell. If not they have a good home with me and might get mailed out to family and friends. I might have to hand deliver rather than mail as most of them will require extra postage since the embellishments are so thick.

I loved these snowflakes and flowers so much that they inspired me to make some flower rosettes with my Tim Holtz die. I loved the result and have to say it is getting rather addicting. I think I made fourteen of them last night from one sheet of 12 x 12 paper.

Stay tuned for more holiday cards with my handmade rosettes inspired by the ones I bought.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

I know I haven’t shared much lately but I’m back with another $3 craft item for this Thursday. Thanks to my Wisconsin sisters I have my one and only apron to share. Well to be fair, I do have a couple vintage aprons I bought to go in my Etsy store. So far I haven’t taken pictures of them to list so I’m saying this is my one and only apron.

At first glance it may look like an embellished button up shirt…

but it actually is two shirts made into an apron.

I was asked to bring a plaid shirt to our weekend getaway last week and I didn’t have any but knew there would be extra shirts for me to pick from so I wasn’t too worried. I think if I knew what we were making I might have went searching for a shirt but I’m pretty happy with the shirts I was able to use.

Thanks go to one of my BIL’s for cleaning out his closet.

I was probably the tallest person making aprons and somehow I picked out what was probably the shortest shirt and it was just too short for an apron so I added a ruffle section to the bottom to make it a better length.

I decided to add pockets and some flowers to the pockets to make it a bit more ‘girly’ since it is after all two men's shirts.

After I added the yellow flowers to the pockets I added some yellow on the shirt pocket and tacked down the collar with some large yellow buttons.

To think, all of this was relatively free to me. Two old shirts, some scrap fabric and some buttons.

It took me a while and I worked on my apron most of the day but in the end, I love it and am so glad that I kept adding to my apron.

Thanks to my sisters for letting me use their supplies to make my first ever shirt to apron transformation.

Supplies:

Button up shirts - I used two

Fabric scraps – optional*

Buttons – optional*

Sewing machine and thread

Total cost: Free!

If you had to purchase a shirt at the thrift store you should be able to find one for $3 or less.

* I used for flowers but would be great for pockets if you are using one shirt

What I learned:

I would look for long or men's tall shirts. Everyone else made their apron with one shirt and they looked great, a bit more tailored looking than mine with the ruffle bottom.

A crisp white shirt would look great.

I sewed my flowers directly on to the apron but if you made them into pins you could change them out with the seasons or to match your outfit.

It’s ok to take a bit longer than my sisters, almost everyone added a pocket after seeing me work to add them to my apron.

It might be best to ask before you take a shirt out of the closet or you might have someone saying ‘Hey, is that my shirt?’ or something to that effect after the shirt is already cut up. :)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I can’t believe I haven’t shared any pictures of my Halloween decor. It is probably because I didn’t make anything new this year but I did decorate a bit different from last year.

For some reason I love my painted softball that I tucked into a broken lamp.

Last year I made a bone and attempted a skull with some paper pulp and glue.

I filled an old enamelware pan with some Spanish moss and skulls. It looks like skulls crawling out of a graveyard.

I wasn’t sure on the location of the Trick or Treat vinyl so I just stuck the whole sheet up on the wall. I bought it last year on clearance after Halloween. Maybe next year I’ll have the perfect spot for it but for now I’m happy with it as it is.

I still love this Halloween art I made from rub-ons and some ribbon.

The mini enamelware dish was a 10 cent garage sale find and it is the perfect size for some of my scrabble tiles.

The pumpkin and coffins were freebies I bought out again.

I love the cover of this book. I can’t say I remember reading it when I was younger but I do remember pouring through the Scholastic order forms from elementary school and hoping I could order a book or two.

This friendly witch sits on a scale by my front door. Now that I think of it the front door has been sticking lately so maybe she is not so friendly.

Thanks for taking a look at some of my fall and Halloween decor items.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I think this card needs something else but I couldn’t decide on what. I wanted to add ribbon but imagine with all my ribbon that I didn’t find one that I liked. Well for now it is complete… until I find just the right addition. :)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sorry for the long absence. I just haven’t been able to come up with new posts until today. I sort of forced myself to take some pictures and post a card I made this week.

I was lucky enough to win some paper crafting supplies from a blog hop a few weeks ago. It was just what I needed to kick start some holiday cards. I'm starting a week, or maybe longer, of all quick and simple holiday cards.

The paper and die cut is from the Deck the Halls line from 3 Bugs in a Rug.

The paper tape I picked up from the clearance section of my local craft store. I thought it would be sort of like washi tape but it really more like paper. It isn’t as tacky as washi tape but so far it has been sticking on the card just fine.

Looking for a unique handmade gift? Check out my Etsy shop.

About Me

I've been a papercrafter for over 20 years and can't believe how much has changed since I bought my first rubber stamp.
Since joining Fun Stampers Journey or more commonly called FSJ my paper crafting has evolved and expanded tremendously. Fun Stampers Journey has wonderful deep etched, USA made red rubber cling mount stamps, hundreds of matching dies, exclusive color palette including cardstock, patterned papers, Silks, ribbons, Color Splashes and True Fusion Inks. Along with the traditional rubber stamping supplies they also carry planners, pocket scrapbooks and an exclusive 8 1/2" x 11 size GelPress monoprinting plate.
Interested in Fun Stampers Journey? I'd love to help your creative journey as your coach or join my team and spread the word about the fabulous products FSJ has to offer.

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{Disclosure}

The opinions on products expressed here are just that, my opinions. For the most part I'm only going to tell you about products that I buy, use and love. On occasion I've won or received a product for free but either way, I tell it as I see or use it. If anyone wants to send me products to try, feel free.... :-)